FALLBROOK – Starting next year, some students at the public high school here will bring their King James version of the Bible with them to class each day.

They'll use it as a textbook. Their studies will start at Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth," and conclude with Revelation 22:21, "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen."

Those involved say it will be the first class of its type to be taught for decades at any public high school in San Diego County, and perhaps only the second in Southern California.

With little fanfare and no controversy last month, the Fallbrook Union High District's board unanimously approved the elective class, called "The Bible as Literature."

District administrators say the concept is simple: The classics of British and American literature are filled with biblical allusions that would be lost on a reader without basic knowledge of the Bible.

It will not be a religion course, they say, but an English course using the Bible as its primary text. It will be open to seniors and select juniors. It is being modeled after one taught at a Long Beach high school. The teacher of that class was honored by the Milken Family Foundation last year as one of the 100 best teachers in the United States.

A class set of Bibles has been donated by The Gideons.

The Fallbrook district started considering the class more than a year ago, after a handful of parents suggested the possibility, Assistant Superintendent James Yahr said.

"There was no opposition from the public," Yahr said. "The board seemed to be very much in favor of it, from a literary perspective."

The official description of the class says it will be a two-semester course: "Students will read and learn that the King James version has provided and continues to provide a rich reference source from which innumerable literary allusions, themes and archetypes in both American and English literature are found."

First Amendment issues

The difficulty could be making sure the class does not cross over into religious proselytizing, some outsiders say.

The U.S. Supreme Court didn't eliminate the Bible or prayer from public schools; it barred state-sponsored religious practices, including devotional use of the Bible by public school officials, said Charles C. Haynes, a senior scholar at the First Amendment Center based in Arlington, Va.

He said the court has more than once made it clear that public schools may teach students about the Bible as long as it is presented objectively as part of an academic program. Haynes said Bible-related classes used to be common all over the country, and Bible-as-literature courses are making a comeback, especially in the South.

"It appears there has been a resurgence of interest in Bible electives, some of it motivated by Christian conservatives who feel it is a way to expose kids to the Bible," Haynes said. "The problem is, of course, that many of these efforts have resulted in questionable constitutionality."

Haynes says as long as school districts follow the ground rules of the First Amendment, "it's fine."

Charles Bird, an attorney who volunteers for the American Civil Liberties Union in San Diego with an emphasis in church-state issues, agreed.

"As written it appears perfectly constitutional," Bird said of the Fallbrook course syllabus.

Often it comes down to the individual teacher, Haynes said. Even if the course is structured correctly, the teacher may not understand the limits.

"The people who volunteer to do this may be people of faith but have no background in religious studies," he said. "They may not even realize that what they're doing is unconstitutional."

Bird echoed that thought: "If you have a teacher who tries to teach that the words are divinely inspired or suggesting that students should believe in them as a matter of faith, well, that crosses the line."

Fallbrook school district administrators have not responded to requests by The San Diego Union-Tribune for the name of the person who will teach the new course, and for an interview with him or her.

The outline of the Fallbrook course calls for the first semester to concentrate on the Old Testament, the second on the New Testament. Students will examine the Bible as an amalgam of literary types including epic literature, fables, short stories, parables and allegories. They will also examine influences of the Bible on literature, including Shakespeare and Milton, and explore Biblical allusions in contemporary literature, film, drama and the media.

Call me Ishmael

The notion that many young people today do not know much about the Bible was supported by a nationwide survey released April 26. Commissioned by the nonprofit Bible Literacy Project and conducted by the Gallup Poll, it questioned 1,002 studentsages 13 to 18.

The survey concluded that while most American teenagers have a rudimentary understanding of the Bible, few have the depth of knowledge that would allow them to understand its influences on literature, art, music, history and culture.

For instance, the poll found that 90 percent knew Adam and Eve were the names of the first man and woman, according to Genesis; 80 percent knew that Easter commemorates the resurrection of Jesus; and 72 percent knew that Moses was the man who led the Israelites out of bondage.

But 8 percent thought Moses was one of the 12 apostles, 7 percent an Egyptian pharaoh and 5 percent an angel of God. Only 34 percent identified Cain as the person who said, "Am I my brother's keeper?" while 49 percent knew that Jesus was said to have turned water into wine at the Wedding at Cana.

The complete works of Shakespeare have more than 1,300 biblical references, according to the survey. "Call me Ishmael," the introductory line of Herman Melville's "Moby Dick," it notes, would be lost on students who do not know Ishmael was a famous Bible castaway.

Fallbrook's course was modeled after one at Long Beach's Millikan High School, taught by Nader Twal.

A devout Christian, Twal said every aspect of his class is keyed to state and district educational standards. He said he is well aware of the fine line the class has walked for the four years he has taught it.

"If I don't abide by the district standards I'll be in deep trouble. Everything is tied to the standards," Twal said. "We avoid controversy by teaching it like literature. But if education is to remain contemporary it should cause a stir."

Karen Brinkman, the school's co-principal, said she is convinced Twal has never crossed the line. "He knows the rules, and he plays by the rules. He just wouldn't do it."

Brinkman said that during the years Twal has taught the course the school never received a complaint. "Yes, we have," said Jeff Cornejo, the school's other principal, "from students who can't get in the class."

'A magnificent text'

The majority of Twal's students in his sixth-period Bible class identified themselves as Christians.

"None of the views in the Bible were pushed on us. It was never like 'Believe in God or get an F,' " said student David Cedeno.

Jeremy Wright, a self-described Christian surfer dude, said the class was much harder than he expected.

He and his surfing buddy Mike Miley "were really stoked to be in a class where you actually get credit for just reading the Bible," Wright said.

"It's been different from any other class I've ever taken. With other classes I might not show up for a week and still be able to get an A or B. But miss one day here and I would have been lost."

Most of Twal's students said they were Christians long before entering the class, but a few said they weren't.

"I just thought it was ridiculous," Martin Galvan said. "But a lot of it hit me one day. I started going to church. . . . This class made me want to believe."

Twal, whose cell phone voice mail message ends with "God bless you," said that while he doesn't encourage religious belief in the classroom, he understands how it can emerge. "It's a magnificent text that can touch the heart," he said.

He compares the experience to what might happen in any English class.

"If a student reads (Steinbeck's) "Of Mice and Men" and comes away from it with a better appreciation of the mentally disabled, there's nothing wrong with that. In fact, that should happen," he said.

"My goal isn't to watch conversions happen in the classroom. I am a Christian, but here I am a teacher. Does it affect some kids? Yes, it does. I've seen people have their lives changed."